Lily Evans, 5th Year
by StrangerousThings
Summary: Lily Evans has always attracted plenty of attention, but how will she react to the attention of the dark, quiet boy called Remus Lupin?
1. Visitations

Lily Evans sat curled up in a comfy armchair by the fire in Gryffindor common room. The scratching of her quill, the soft popping and crackling of the fire and her own breath was the only thing that could be heard. James and Sirius had gone to bed by now, as had the tall, quiet Remus and their friend Peter, who looked more like a beach ball crossed with a rat than a 15 year old boy. Lily finished the letter to her parents and rolled the parchment up. She would send it in the morning. Right now, she was exhausted.

All the other Gryffindor girls were asleep when Lily entered the girls' dormitory. She was glad for it. Some nights she'd find Katie and Jessica waiting awake for her, teasing her for studying too hard. As she changed into her almost transparent nightie for bed she heard the door creak and saw a tall, male silhouette outlined against the yellow firelight. _A boy! _ she thought frantically, diving for her bed to cover her almost naked body. _It better not be bloody James Potter—_and it wasn't James.

It was Remus.

Lily met his eyes and a mixture of shock, bewilderment and absolute terror gripped his face so suddenly that Lily couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"I'm so sorry—"he started.

"_Remus, what are you doing up here_?" she whispered in an attempt at seriousness, but with a grin sliding back onto her face.

"I'm so sorry; James and Sirius dared me to break into the girls dorms, we didn't think anyone was awake!" He cracked a nervous smile.

_Those two_, Lily thought with equal parts disgust and endearment.

"But…" Lily said, "How did you get past the slide enchantment that stops boys getting in?"

"Oh, I worked that out ages ago. The thing only goes off if you actually walk on the steps, so I just levitated myself up here."

Pretty smart_,_ Lily thought.

"I'll leave then, I guess" Remus said. "But, um, James said I had to bring proof that I'd been in here, so, do you have anything I could borrow? I know it sounds a little pathetic but you know how they are…" he looked a little nervous; no doubt wary of Lily's occasional explosions.

"No problem Remus." Lily smiled and held out her pearl-handled hairbrush. "Just… don't tell them I was awake, alright? I've got enough attention from James Potter as it is."

He took it and smiled back. "No worries. Good night."

"You too" said Lily.

Remus tiptoed out the door and Lily heard him mutter _wingardium leviosa_, and then a muffled thud on the common room carpet.

Lying back in bed, she smiled to herself. She'd never really thought of Remus as more than a friend or a study partner. He _was _handsome, she decided, though not in the showy, arrogant way James was. And smart; anyone could tell he was the real brains of the Marauders, and he was the only boy who could keep up with her grades. This year they were also the two Gryffindor Prefects, she remembered; the chaos of the train, the feast and escorting the first years she hadn't had time to talk to him much, and they'd never sent each other letters during the holidays.

Maybe this year Lily would get to know Remus Lupin a little better.

Remus climbed back up the steps to the boys' dormitory, opening the wooden door to Sirius lying on his back with his arms crossed behind his head, James flicking his wand randomly and Peter struggling not to fall asleep. Remus entered the room with the hairbrush held high to a roar of delight.

"Moony! You've finally grown a pair!" James cheered, punching Remus' arm as he made his way over to his 4 poster next to James'. Sirius looked mildly impressed. "Was there anyone awake?" he asked.

Remus thought for a second, then made up his mind. "Nope. But you won't believe whose hairbrush this is." Remus grinned, casting a sly sideways glance at James.

"No way. It isn't." James looked incredulous. "You really _have _grown a pair, Moony. Give it here, then, if it's Evans'; I bet she uses it for a lot more than just her hair, hey Padfoot?"

Sirius looked very bored by the whole affair. Remus handed the ornate brush over and James turned it over in his hands. "Nice, Moony."

James yawned conspicuously, and handed the hairbrush back to Remus. "Well, this _has_ been fun. See you boys tomorrow." He lay back in bed, imitating Sirius, and the other boys took this as the cue to extinguish their wand light.

"Night Prongs, Moony, Wormtail." Sirius' voice whispered in the dark.

Lily woke early the next morning to send her letter. Being the very first day of school for the term, she encountered no one as she walked through the sunlit grounds, and found only sleeping owls in the Owlery. A little flicker of unease struck Lily when she couldn't find her own owl Thoth, but she woke a disgruntled tawny owl and tied her letter to its leg instead.

Lily's waved to Hagrid on her way back to the castle and noticed that he was starting to grow a beard. By the time she reached the Great Hall, the house tables were starting to fill up.

Lily sat down to eat with a few First-year Gryffindor girls, chatting to them about starting at Hogwarts and the classes they would take. However, halfway through a detailed vilification of the current DADA teacher Ogden Carvinsky she was cut off by a tremendous fanfare of trumpets coming from the Entrance Hall. The familiar round glasses, angular face and tousled black hair of James Potter burst through the doors, drawing the eyes of every student and teacher in the Hall. He sprinted down Gryffindor table, scanning each face. _Please not me, please let him have got over it_—he stopped at Lily's spot.

Lily sighed into her cereal and turned around. "What. Do. You. Want." she intoned flatly.

"Merely to refurnish a lady with probably her most useful, well, tool! I believe you left it in the Common Room."

James gave her a sly look, reached behind his back and pulled out a very familiar, pearl-handled hairbrush.


	2. Experiments

_AN: Hey everyone! This is my first ever Fanfic and I'm just having a ton of fun. I love positive feedback but I'd love to hear advice, criticism etc. from you guys._

_Hope you enjoy!_

_That git!_ Lily thought vehemently.

"You git!" Lily shouted angrily.

"Well, someone's at _that _time of the month then…" James started.

Lily jumped up from the table, snatched the hairbrush from his hand and ran past all the other Gryffindors to the entrance hall, close to tears. Running up the stone staircases to the Gryffindor common room, she nearly knocked someone over but kept on running.

"Lily!" she turned around to find that it was Remus she had just run into. "Oh. I'm sorry Remus, I didn't know it was you…" she trailed off and started to walk up the stairs again. "_Lily_." she heard him say again. "What's the matter? You look really upset."

"No, it's nothing. James just embarrassed me in front of the whole school again; I guess I should probably have got used to it by now." Remus looked concerned, and a little annoyed at his friend. "What did he do?"

"Oh, you know that hairbrush I gave you as proof you were in the girls' dorms? He pretended he found, it and tried to give it back to me at breakfast just then."

"So _that_'s where it is. I was looking all around our dorm this morning, that's why I'm late for breakfast. And hey, I'll have a word to James, all right? I don't want him doing anything that could upset you. We Gryffindor prefects gotta stick together, right?" Lily returned a watery smile. "Thanks Remus. I'll see you in potions."

As Remus headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast he thought about Lily Evans. She'd always been off-limits for him; she was James' territory, and if there was anything the wolf part of Remus Lupin knew about, it was territory. But Remus was starting to wonder if James was wasting his time with Lily; she'd never shown any sign of liking him back, and if recent events were anything to go by, none of that had changed over the hormone-driven summer that every 5th-year had experienced.

Remus sat down quietly next to James and Sirius, glancing at Peter, who was talking to a girl. _Holy shit_, Remus thought. _The world's gone mad_. The two other boys were talking loudly, looking at their new timetables. "Damn, double potions in the afternoon today. But hey, transfiguration and charms next, sweet." Remus' timetable was dropped next to him by Professor McGonagall, who subtly grabbed his arm and lifted him away from the table after she had done so.

"Mr Lupin. I trust you had a refreshing summer break?"

"Yes, very much so Professor."

"Let's get down to business then. I appointed you Gryffindor prefect, Mr Lupin. Believe me, it was not a hard decision to pick you over the other three boys. However, it does make this year a little harder for you. Mr Lupin, I'm relying on you to _control_ your friends. I don't expect the world, just a nudge here or there or a word against something inordinately foolish. Understand?"

"Yes Professor. Understood."

"Excellent. And good luck with your OWLs this year." McGonagall said kindly, then turned and walked further down the table to distribute the timetables.

Remus sat back down just in time to hear Sirius proclaim proudly: "I've nearly got it. I'm really close; I just haven't been able to hold the transformation for more than a few seconds." A rush of affection for these three boys swelled Remus' heart when he realised what they were talking about. These were the boys who, since the first year they had discovered he was a werewolf, had tried to become animagi to make his transformation easier.

"Really?" James asked. "I'm nowhere near. It must be easier for smaller animals."

"Not where Wormtail's involved, huh?" Sirius said jestingly. "You can't even get the visualisation going, can you Wormtail?" Peter giggled a little and started eating his cereal very quickly.

Lily was the first student at the Transfiguration classroom that morning, and sat reading _The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5_ until the rest of the class showed up. After everyone had arrived, a tabby cat slunk round the corner of the corridor and led the way into the classroom. The 5th year Gryffindors, more than used to Professor McGonagall's animagus followed her inside and took their seats.

After the lecture about the importance of OWLs that everyone had expected, Professor McGonagall separated the class into pairs to practice basic human transfiguration. Somehow, Lily got paired with Remus, who looked hesitant at being grouped with probably the best female student in the class. Lily saw James shoot Remus a sour look as she greeted him with a smile and Remus looked torn. "Hey, don't worry about him." she said.

"Lily, Prongs is my best friend, I don't—"

"Listen Remus, he's just going to have to get over it. I don't like him. Don't let that bother _you _as well."

Remus visibly relaxed, and smiled a little. "Okay, what do you want to start with?"

"Well, seeing as we're probably the most advanced of the students here, d'you want to start with something a little trickier?"

Remus grinned. "Sure, but I go first. I'm not risking a set of cacti for ears."

"Alright then."

"What spell should I try?"

"Surprise me."

Remus thought for a moment, before holding his wand steady, flicking it and saying "_chevis nox!"_

Lily felt a pleasant tingling sensation in her scalp, looked in the mirror and literally _jumped_ in surprise. The fiery red hair she had worn all her life was replaced with raven black curls!

"Nice!"

Professor McGonagall thought so too. "10 points to Gryffindor. _Excellent_ work Mr Lupin!"

Remus beamed, before flicking his wand and changing Lily's hair back. "Alright, my turn now." Lily said mischievously. She held her wand up and noticed that everyone in the class was now watching her and Remus. Remus looked expectant and a little nervous.

"_Motivus naturalis_!"

Lily knew immediately something was wrong. Remus clutched at his throat in horror and fell to the floor, gagging. His pupils dilated to an unnatural size, his teeth were growing larger and—_grey hair was growing on his face_.

Professor McGonagall ran to where Remus was lying on the ground and muttered a spell, holding his limbs down as they slowly relaxed and stopped spasming. Professor McGonagall looked sharply at Lily, but without anger—more like sympathy. "Mr Lupin has had quite a shock." she said firmly. "I will accompany him to the hospital wing. Do _not _touch your wands while I am gone."

Lily's face fell and she put her head in her hands.

_What have I done._


	3. Consequences

_AN: Chapter 3! Sorry it's taken so long, I've been out of Wi Fi range, but here it is. I'm not really sure where this story is going to go so this might be the last update, we'll see. Please review, I'd love some ideas! xoxo StrangerousThings_

Remus stood groggily and allowed Professor McGonagall to take his arm, her firm grip holding him upright. He'd never been more scared in his life, not even after his bite. There was no way Hogwarts would allow him to stay now. He might have been under a table but somebody would have seen the beginnings of his transformation, they must have.

"…very sorry Mr Lupin." Professor McGonagall was saying quietly. "Miss Evans was foolish beyond belief. Honestly, attempting that spell with no formal instruction in the 5th year…"

"What exactly was it supposed to do?" Remus asked flatly.

"The incantation, when performed correctly, forces a person to assume the form of the animal with which their personality is most closely affiliated, usually used for practicing animagi to help them find the animal which they will transform into. Unfortunately for you, it does not work on werewolves, and results in a half-transformation that is tortuous for the one experiencing it."

"She didn't know what would happen. It's not her fault."

"All the same, immensely foolish to attempt…"

Professor McGonagall walked with Remus to the hospital wing, entrusting him to Madam Lisette.

"You will stay here for the rest of the day Mr Lupin—no complaints! I have to get back to my class."

"Will I… will I be able to stay at Hogwarts? You said if people found out about my illness I'd have to leave." Remus asked tentatively.

Professor McGonagall smiled graciously. "Of course, Mr Lupin. We couldn't let the school lose one of its Marauders now, could we?"

Remus relaxed a little into his mattress. Maybe it would be alright.

Shortly after Professor McGonagall left the classroom a buzz of conversation started. Lily sensed someone standing behind her but didn't turn around. "Go away."

"Or what?" it was James and Sirius, speaking in unison.

"Or I'll bloody hex you both!"

The two boys walked around to the front of Lily's desk. "We just want to know what you did to Moony, alright? He's our friend as well as yours, if you can believe it." James ended snidely.

"It was meant to force him into his natural animalistic form. It didn't work. End of—"

The two boys looked mortified. "What!? Why'd you do that, you know he—"Lily saw Sirius' wand hand twitch and James wince.

"I know he _what_?" Lily demanded.

"I said never mind, Evans. Thanks a lot for nearly killing our friend though." James stalked off to the back of the room where Peter was sitting. Sirius made an apologetic face over his shoulder and followed him. So Lily went back to sitting by herself until Professor McGonagall re-entered the classroom.

"Mr Lupin is currently resting in the hospital wing. I ask you not to disturb him." She said, casting a significant look at James, Sirius and Peter. "Miss Evans, I will see you at the end of the school day outside the staff room."

The Gryffindors had the same lectures about exams in every class that day. Lily tried to put Remus out of her mind and returned to focus in Charms, one of her favourite subjects. However it was Potions that Lily was looking forward to most of all; despite her thoroughly Muggle upbringing, she seemed to have a knack for brewing and stirring the strange ingredients, and as a result Professor Slughorn was very fond of her.

"Alright then, Shrinking Solutions!" Professor Slughorn announced, beaming at the class. "I know we covered them last year, but they _will _be in your OWLs so I thought we'd have some revision, with a little extension for the more advanced potioneers in the class…" his eyes twinkled at Lily and she returned the smile.

After all the other students had begun brewing the Shrinking Solutions Slughorn beckoned Lily to the front. "Now, my girl, I'd like for you to try something a little more difficult today. I have a certain, er, _friend_ who I need to brew some Wolfsbane potion for. Haven't heard of it? No, most people haven't, it's rather new. I thought—well, my friend thought that he'd like to try it. It eases the Werewolf's transformation, see, and enables them to keep their consciousness during the turning. It's rather difficult and I don't expect you to get it absolutely right, but I thought you'd like to give it a go, eh? I've got all my best students attempting it—of course, I would do it myself, but you know, the more the better…" Slughorn looked a little distracted and handed Lily a sheaf of paper. "Off you go then!"

Lily walked back to her desk and examined the recipe. It was immensely complicated; it had to stew overnight and required three separate sets of perfectly measured ingredients. She set about gathering the required materials for the first third of the potion and began preparing it. She was just putting the finishing touches to the first stage when Slughorn called "Time's up everyone! Please bring your potions forward, there you go, yes thank you, thank you…"

Lily stowed the cauldron under the bench and admired the slow-spiralling blue and green steam. She wondered vaguely exactly who Slughorn's werewolf friend was, but didn't want to pry. "My dear, how did it go?" Slughorn asked excitedly. "Let me have a look, let's see—perfect. _Excellent_ work, my dear, and nothing less than what I would have expected. Run along then, I'll take care of this."

Lily was smiling broadly as she left the classroom, proud that she'd pulled off such a complicated piece of work so well. The smile fell from her face when she walked past the staff room and saw Professor McGonagall waiting for her. "Miss Evans."

"Professor."

"Come inside, if you will." Lily followed Professor McGonagall into the staff room. A wardrobe with a mirror for a door stood in the corner, and Lily was sure she saw it rattle slightly. "Miss Evans, I don't think I can impress on you enough how foolish what you did to Mr Lupin was. If 4 years at this school hasn't taught you not to attempt an unpractised spell on another person, I don't know what we have taught you."

Lily felt waves of guilt in her mid-region and lowered her head. "I'm very sorry Professor. In the theory I'd read the effect on normal wizards was painless, I don't know why it affected Remus like that—"suddenly realisation hit Lily. Remus' reaction to the spell, the grey hair and his eyes dilating, the Wolfsbane potion, James and Sirius reaction—

Remus Lupin was a werewolf.


	4. Encounters

**AN: Thanks for the reviews guys, I'm so glad you like it! Please enjoy Chapter 4; I don't think I'm going to be able to update as frequently from now on, but I'll see what I can do -StrangerousThings**

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Remus was allowed to leave the hospital wing when the bell rung for classes to be over. Restless from being forced to lie in bed all day with only the ancient Madam Lisette for company, he leapt out of bed and bounded out the door of the hospital wing, running head-on into Peter, James and Sirius close behind him. Peter was knocked to the ground and seemed to be winded, as he just lay there gasping helplessly. Ignoring him, James and Sirius turned to Remus. "Are you alright Moony?" Sirius cut in—"We've been worried about you all day, Evans' spell looked like it knocked you out—"

"I'm fine, don't worry." Remus said smiling, grateful for his friends' concern. "I'm more worried about being found out than anything else."

"No-one saw anything." Sirius assured him. "The only thing people were talking about after you and McGonagall left was what it had done to you, no-one actually saw."

Remus breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank God. McGonagall said that I'd be able to stay, but I wasn't sure. You know, Greyback being on the loose is giving everyone like me a particularly bad name."

James punched him in the arm. "Don't worry, Moony, everyone's got bigger things to worry about than your furry little problem. For example," he said, glancing towards a group of girls, "how attractive I am—hey, girls!" James waved to the group of giggling Ravenclaws, subconsciously tousling his hair.

"You're such an arrogant prick James." Sirius said grinning.

"Ah, but it's not arrogance when I actually _am _devastatingly handsome." Picking Peter up from the ground with a tug of his arm, James led the three boys down the corridor towards the secret passage that would take them up to Gryffindor common room. Walking slightly in front with Remus, James looked at him a little oddly. "Hey, Moony. Do you like Evans?"

Remus felt his heart skip. "Of course." he said in an offhand voice. "We've been friends for 4 years, we study together—"

"Moony, you know what I mean. Do you _like _like her? Because it's okay if you do, you know. You're at perfect liberty to fancy whoever you like." Despite his words, James' voice had a hint of danger in it.

"Well, um, yeah, I guess. I mean, over all the other Gryffindor girls, easily. But I'm pretty sure she doesn't like me back. That way." Remus finished hastily, aware that James was no longer smiling. Despite his reassurance that Remus was, James maintained a stony silence on the way back to the common room.

Entering through the portrait hole, James' spirits seemed to cheer up greatly as he saw the signups for Quidditch. Dashing over to the notice board to write down his name for Seeker and flirt with the 4th year Chaser Veronica Green. Sirius and Peter stayed down in the common room playing Exploding Snap, so Remus began to traipse up the spiral staircase to the dormitories for some peace and quiet. He didn't get it. Halfway up the steps he bumped into Lily Evans. "This is becoming something of a regular occurrence." he grinned. Half a second after, he was punched solidly in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he cried, his eyes watering. "What the _bloody hell _was that for!?"

"For not telling me about your… you know, you!" Lily cried in return, punching him again in the chest. Remus doubled over.

"Tell me. _What_ is it that I have forgone mentioning that warrants _this._"

Lily pulled him up the stairs and into the empty boys dormitory, shutting the door. "That you're a _werewolf" _she whispered. Remus sat down hard on his bed. She knew. She knew what he was. There were no more entertaining ideas of Lily fancying him, she knew what he was now, she would be disgusted, fearful even—

"Look, Remus. I don't care." Lily said. "I know everyone tells a big story about werewolves and scum like Greyback doesn't help, but I _know_ you're a good person."

"You would care. You would care if you knew what I truly am, what I become when I transform." Remus said bitterly. "I'm not a good person when I transform. I'm not a person. I'm worse than an animal. I would kill you, kill you and all my friends without a second thought."

"Well, let me help you! Slughorn has all his top students, including me brewing this new Wolfsbane potion that's meant to help you keep your mind when you transform—"

"Really?"

"Yes! And look, I don't know, maybe I could train as an animagus or something so I could help you with your transformation for now, I'm pretty sure werewolves don't attack animals." Lily said. Remus smiled broadly. "Well, you can join the club." he said. "James, Sirius and Peter have been teaching themselves to transform since they found out in my 2nd year. That's where we get our nicknames; I'm Moony, a werewolf obviously, James is Prongs because he's going to be a stag, Sirius is Padfoot, he's a big black dog, and Wormtail's a rat. Obviously." Remus ended, grinning.

"I guess I'd be a doe, then, if your animagus is the same as your patronus." Lily said thoughtfully.

"Wait, you can produce a corporeal patronus?" Remus said, surprised.

"Yeah, I found it in one of the advanced spellbooks in the library. I figured if all of You-Know-Who's Dementors are flying around like they say it can't hurt, can it?"

"Could you teach me?" Remus said eagerly.

"Some other time," Lily said, smiling and standing up from Remus' bed. "I've got to study; Flitwick set us tons of homework." Remus groaned and stood up too. All of a sudden Lily was standing a lot closer to him than she'd ever been before.

"Remus, I'm okay with your… furry little problem, whatever James calls it. I really am, and I'm here for you if you ever need to talk about anything, okay?"

"Sure." Remus said. "Us Gryffindor Prefects have to stick together, right?" Lily smiled and pulled him into a tight hug, her hair brushing against his face; she smelt soft and flowery and she was warm under his touch—

The door to the dorm flew open. Remus and Lily sprung apart, both shocked. But neither could compare to the shock on the face of James Potter, standing in the doorway.


	5. Realisations

Lily and Remus sprang apart, Remus falling over backwards and landing on the floor. It would have been funny if James wasn't looking ready to kill someone.

"Moony, what the hell are you doing." James said, seemingly struggling to remain calm.

"We were just talking, honestly—"Remus started hastily but Lily cut him off.

"Mr Lupin and I were just talking," she said fiercely. "But you know what, Potter? It's honestly, truly, none of your business what we were just doing. Remus, you don't have to let this arrogant toerag push you around."

"Lily, he's my friend—"

"Oh is he? Well if he's your friend," she said, casting a nasty glance at James, "he should know that you're at perfect liberty to do whatever you want, with whomever you want." James looked at a loss for something to say, simply standing in the doorway looking slightly sad.

"Alright then, Moony. Do whatever you want. Evans is right; it's none of my business." James said miserably, then turned around and ran back down the staircase. Lily and Remus looked at each other, sitting in silence for a few moments, before walking down to the now empty common room to start on Flitwick's homework.

"I should probably go and talk to him." Remus said quietly after they had spent half an hour on the homework together. Lily shook her head and smiled at him.

"He's a git to you Remus, you know that?"

"Lily, he's the first friend I ever had. He's been kind to me where other kids would have shunned and feared me. He's just jealous because of you." Remus sighed a little.

"You're too kind." Lily said softly. She leant forward, kissing Remus on the cheek softly, then blushing a deep shade of red. "I should probably get going." she said, stuttering a little. "See you round."

Remus sat at the table stunned as Lily packed up her bags and left, casting a backwards glance that looked like it was trying to make up for her little display of nerves; halfway between flirtatious and terrified.

As her auburn hair flashed around the corner of the dusty library, painted gold with the sunset, Remus realised two important things.

She likes me. He thought. Even though she knows what I am, she likes me.

His second thought was more along the lines of

James is going to have a heart attack.

Walking back up the seven flights of stairs to the common room with trepidation in his steps, Remus wondered how he was ever going to solve this one. On one hand, he had his friendship with James, something that he knew, if broken, could never be repaired. But at the same time, the cheeky smile of Lily Evans, her pale, warm hands; a face covered in freckles like the sky was in stars. She made him feel like he had never felt about a girl before; what he thought being in love must be like.

But it was so quick! He thought. I'd never really thought about her like that before… Goddamn hormones. Remus stopped himself there. Too often he'd gone too far into the cycle of thought that started with him questioning his own actions by the virtue of his being a teenager, then questioning the own thought as a potential by-product of those same hormones, and this entire existential questioning loop just part of some twisted aspect of puberty designed to drag him into a vicious cycle of self-reflective thought from which he could never escape.

All that occupied his mind for the next six flights of unstable, rotating stairs was Lily Evans.

Lily was nowhere to be seen when Remus stepped through the portrait hole, but the rest of the Marauders were sitting in their customary armchairs in the common room when he got back. Far from the hostile looks that he had expected he would receive, the boys jumped up with glee when they saw him.

"Moony! We thought the time had come when you would never return from the library, you're such a swot!" James said jokingly. Glancing to the left and right quickly for what seemed like reassurance from Sirius and Peter, he opened his arms and embraced Remus in what felt like a really, truly genuine sign of reconciliation. James drew back and spoke quietly.

"Look Moony, I'm sorry. I've been a git. We're friends, and you know we would all do anything for you," he said, looking again at the other two for affirming nods. "I'm not going to let a girl get between the two of us. Even if it is Lily Evans."

Remus thought it was the wolf in him. He had a natural sense for how people were feeling, and he knew right now that James wasn't really happy. He was trying his best to make his friend feel good, and for that Remus couldn't help but feel grateful, even knowing the way that James treated him sometimes, and the things that he had said. The wolf in Remus knew that deep down James was a great guy, but he was just as caught up in the whirlpool of adolescence as the rest of them. For the moment though, Remus could forgive him. Even if his feelings for Lily eventually came between them, he had to hold on to his friendship with James as best he could.

Remus didn't say anything

Then he tackled him; something he would never usually have done, but something that he knew James would love.

"Moony you feral boy!" James yelled. Suddenly they were rolling around on the floor, James laughing so hard Remus found it easy to pin him, Sirius and Peter cheering and the rest of the common room halfway between laughter and resigned annoyance.

Just as James had finally regained the balance of power, as he always did in any play fight they had, Lily stepped out of the dorms. She took one look at the scene and screamed, whipping out her wand before noticing that Remus was giggling as James tickled his legs.

James followed Remus' gaze up to where she was standing on the top step of the girl's dorms staircase and his happiness drained; the smile remained, but Remus could feel him resentful and jealous again.

"Boys." Lily grinned, and went off to sit with the other 5th year girls.

Everyone knew the mood had left the room as quickly as Lily had entered it.


End file.
